Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte have both been through a lot of troublesome moments in the ring since their first fight 7½ years ago.
Joshua, 33, has endured a brutal battle with Wladimir Klitschko, was stunningly stopped by Andy Ruiz Jr. and lost back-to-back 12-round decisions to Oleksandr Usyk. Whyte, 36, has been savagely knocked unconscious by Alexander Povetkin and got stopped by Tyson Fury.
Whyte wouldn’t say, though, that he’ll encounter a lesser version of the former IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO champion on August 12 during their press conference Monday in London.
“I don’t know and I don’t care,” Whyte told promoter Eddie Hearn, who moderated the press conference. “I’ve prepared for the best version of him. A lotta people say this, that and the other. That’s for them to say, and not for me to worry about. I just worry about preparing for the best version of him. Whether it’s still there or not, I don’t really care. I’m coming to fight and I ain’t got nothing to lose, so I’m all good.”
Whyte will attempt to avenge his seventh-round, technical-knockout loss to Joshua in December 2015 when they meet again four weeks from Saturday night at a sold-out O2 Arena in London. Joshua (25-3, 22 KOs) hurt Whyte with a straight right early in the seventh round and violently knocked him out with a right uppercut later in that round at O2 Arena.
Joshua beat Whyte in his last bout before the 2012 Olympic gold medalist became a world champion for the first time almost four months later, when he knocked out then-unbeaten American Charles Martin in the second round to capture the IBF belt.
London’s Whyte (29-3, 19 KOs) has chased a shot at redemption against Joshua ever since he lost that bout. The former WBC interim champion felt at times like he would never secure this rematch, but the Jamaican-born contender is thrilled that he’ll finally get that opportunity in what is still a big fight in England.
“We’ve both been through a lot, both [gotten over] a lot, but we’re both still chasing improvement,” Whyte said. “You know what I’m saying? We’ve got new teams, new people around us, and I think it’s gonna be an even better fight than it was the first time because we’re both more experienced, more skilled now. And we’ve been through stuff, ups and downs in fights. Obviously, I’ve had my roughs, he’s had it rough. We both have three losses as well, so it’ll be a good fight. We still got a lotta hunger in us and I can’t wait to get in there.”
DAZN will stream Joshua-Whyte II as a pay-per-view main event in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Their rematch will be available as part of DAZN’s subscription service in the United States and numerous other countries.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.